The Steelers have lost two straight to fall to 4-3 and host the 7-1 Colts this Sunday.

The Ravens are 2-5 and looking at three straight on the road.

The Browns are 2-5 and go into their bye with two touchdowns and two interceptions since the Joe Flacco trade.

Which leaves the Bengals at 3-5 and a game-and-a-half behind in the AFC North, which never seems to have any breathing room. Only Sunday's game against the 4-3 Bears at Paycor Stadium (1 p.m.-Cincinnati's Local 12) and a bye week stand between the Bengals and a rematch in a Nov. 16 game at Pittsburgh that could make the division really tight.

Bengals head coach Zac Taylor knows all this. But he knows he also has to attack the problems from last Sunday (seven missed tackles, according to Pro Football Focus, just one hit on the quarterback) for this Sunday.

"I'm aware of (the tight race) absolutely. And today is about cleaning up yesterday for us. I'm aware of that. That hasn't been a focus for us today," Taylor said. "We just have to control things we can control. Because we do that, we're going to be just fine moving in the future, and we'll be able to take advantage of the opportunities we get. But until we make these corrections and are better for it this week, then, then none of that's going to matter to us. And we know that. I know that our guys are accountable for it, and want to get it fixed."

But there's a question if he'll have Flacco to do it. On Monday, Taylor pronounced him questionable and day-to-day. Flacco fell on his shoulder on his only sack of the game to end the next-to-last series. He ran into the locker room to get it checked and finished the last drive one of four passing.

Taylor also said what everyone knew after NFL sack champion Trey Hendrickson (hip) left after his 23^rd snap Sunday, which accounted for only 32% of the plays. He's not at 100% and he's also a day-to-day question.

Ja'Marr Jamming Again

As the NFL lurches into the halfway point with the Monday night Chiefs-Commanders game, Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase is running away with the NFL receptions title. His 70 catches lead 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey by 14. No one with the Chiefs or Commanders is in the top 29.

In his bid for back-to-back Triple Crowns, Chase's 720 yards trail only Seattle's Jaxson Smith-Njigba, but by 99 yards. He's tied for third place with five touchdown catches, two behind Lions wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown and Eagles tight end Dallas Goedert.

Players Only

The Bengals defense heard Taylor's call for leadership to step up after it surrendered 23 fourth-quarter points Sunday to the Jets while allowing 254 yards on the ground, their most in six years. Rookie starting linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr., said they had a defense-only team meeting after Taylor held his weekly Monday meeting.

"We know who the leaders are on defense. I believe he knows that, too. "He's just looking for the leaders to step up," Knight said. "They took it to heart. It was hard for them to sleep. They came in and challenged us, and they took accountability in everything, just like we all take accountability for everything we put on film.

"It was the captains and a lot of guys that play a lot. Guys that aren't even captains standing up and talking."

Knight said he's not quite there yet as he learns on the job, but he says he talks on the practice field when they've been out there for a while and the energy gets low. He said the speakers on Monday talked mainly about sticking together.

"That was pretty much the whole purpose of that room," Knight said. "We love each other, so we have to be accountable, and we're going to get it fixed. The only way we can do that is together."

The meeting didn't surprise Taylor.

"I think we've got good people in that room and they're into holding each other accountable. That's the biggest thing. It's little things," Taylor said. "It's not always a big thing. It's just giving up an extra three yards. Sometimes on a run or a perimeter play. It's being a step hesitant, and so maybe you're not missing a tackle, but you are missing a tackle because of the little hesitancy there.

"Those are things that I think we're seeing as a unit, as a team that we've got to clean up and be better at. And there aren't wholesale changes to be made with that stuff. Fundamentally, we've got to be better."

Golden Rule

Defensive coordinator Al Golden doesn't want to know what was said. But he's glad it was said.

"Nor should I (know). It does feel like the fact that it was called is a sense of urgency there," Golden said, "as there should be, because we cannot do that to the offense or special teams again."

Golden isn't prepared to blame the league-leading 81 missed tackles on a lack of physicality. He looks at the first series of the game and sees cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt coming up on first down to stop running back Breece Hall for a yard, and then rookie linebacker Barrett Carter penetrating on fourth-and-one to drop Hall for a two-yard loss.

"It's not a lack of physicality. It's not a lack of want-to," Golden said Monday. "I thought we were ready to play the game. There's no doubt about it. We did not answer the bell when we needed to in the fourth quarter.

"But it's hard to look out there in the first half and say we weren't ready to play the game, or we weren't physical. The first play the game. We have a crack replace in the alley on their sideline … The fourth play we're on the perimeter, (cornerback) Dax (Hill) sets it, and guys run the alley. I wouldn't say it's lack of physicality. We've just got to get to the point where we're just playing faster and playing with confidence and trust in each other. And don't make it bigger than that, to be honest with you."

Slants and Screens

After being inactive last week against the Steelers, Taylor-Britt made his way back into the starting lineup against the Jets after he beat out Josh Newton during the week. CTB played 55 snaps (76%) and Newton had five plays.

"He had such an awesome approach all week. We let them fight it out during the week, and Cam had a better week, and he carried that into the game," Golden said. "There were a couple of things he needs to fix in the game. Still working on his eyes and being disciplined with his eyes, but he played physical on the perimeter and did a lot of nice things for us. Hopefully, we'll keep building on that. We need to, we need him to be consistent and continue to improve for us." …

Golden could empathize with cornerback DJ Turner II after rookie Jets tight end Mason Taylor used all 6-5 of him to go over the 5-11 Turner to pluck the winning four-yard touchdown pass on a flutter throw from Hall off a toss sweep. Turner had Taylor blanketed while edge Myles Murphy and safeties Geno Stone and Jordan Battle converged on Hall.

"He would love to have finished up and through the ball. I'm sure if you asked him," said Golden, which is exactly what Turner said after the game. "It's just a tough one to swallow, because we had so many orange shirts out there and he ended up throwing it late, but the kid made a great play. I got a lot of respect for that tight end. I think he's going to be a good player." …